Marriott mulls 1,000 redundancies

Marriott is considering job cuts totalling almost 1,000 roles, Hotel Owner understands. The group said in light of the coronavirus pandemic it had “moved quickly” to adjust its operations including asking all of its corporate staff at ‘above-property’ offices across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to either accept reduced working hours or take a temporary period of leave. However, after “evaluating all options” for its corporate team in the UK, it said it has taken the “difficult decision” to restructure its corporate operations, and that this would include redundancies. A spokesman told Hotel Owner that corporate associates in the UK are currently undergoing a collective and individual consultation process. At the same time, Marriott also reviewed operations at its portfolio of managed hotels in the UK, and following discussions with hotel owners, has made the decision to also restructure its hotel-level operations. The spokesman added: “The wellbeing of our associates is important to us and we are striving to proceed in the most thoughtful and respectful way possible. “We are working hard with our teams to safeguard employment levels as much as we possibly can through a variety of measures which include redeployment, periods of unpaid leave, reduced working hours, sabbatical programs and voluntary departures.” The proposed cuts follow a slew of bad news for hospitality-industry businesses. The Times has reported that “hundreds” of jobs are at risk at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), and Hilton has confirmed its intention to axe 2,100 corporate roles across its global estate. A spokesperson for IHG confirmed that The Times’ report was correct, but would not give any further comment. Hilton said it has taken the “early and decisive” action to boost its liquidity and reduce corporate expenditures, after the pandemic “created unprecedented challenges for the travel and tourism industry”. Additional measures to reduce its cost structure included the extension of previously announced furloughs, reduced hours, and corporate pay reductions for up to 90 additional days.